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VOA reporter interviewing Afghan poppy cultivators.
Photo credit: VOA / Wikimedia
Exclusive Interview with Afghanistan Reconstruction Watchdog
By Klaus Marre
In an exclusive interview, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction tells WhoWhatWhy about some of the worst wastes of taxpayer money, decries the lack of accountability and praises whistleblowers.
PICKS
PICKS are stories from many sources, selected by our editors or recommended by our readers because they are important, surprising, troubling, enlightening, inspiring, or amusing. They appear on our site and in our daily newsletter. Please send suggested articles, videos, podcasts, etc. to picks@whowhatwhy.org.
From Wikipedia – Historical document: First ARPANET IMP log: the first message ever sent via the ARPANET (predecessor to the Internet), 10:30 pm, 29 October 1969. This IMP Log excerpt, kept at UCLA, describes setting up a message transmission from the UCLA SDS Sigma 7 Host computer to the SRI SDS 940 Host computer.
Photo Credit: Charles S. Kline / Wikimedia
Climate Change Will Make Parts of Persian Gulf Uninhabitable (Russ)
The heat index could hit 170 degrees, and nobody could tolerate that.
The CIA’s IG Criticizes Agency’s Relationship with the Entertainment Industry (Klaus)
In a recently declassified report, the inspector general of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is critical of the agency’s interaction with the entertainment industry, in particular with regard to the movie Zero Dark Thirty.
What Was the Runaway Surveillance Blimp Doing in the First Place? (link submitted by reader Jim Terr)
News of a “runaway blimp” quickly made its way across the Internet yesterday and it was even referenced in the Republican debate. However, instead of serving as a source of amusement, it should be a cause for alarm. Why exactly was a high-tech surveillance aircraft ready for operation on the East Coast?
ExxonMobil Knew It Was Stoking Global Warming Nearly 40 Years Ago (Gerry)
Instead of joining forces with scientists warning about the dangers of fossil-fuel use, the giant oil company spent millions to sow confusion about the scary research its own experts had confirmed. ExxonMobil’s self-serving playbook mimicked the tobacco industry’s decades-long denial of the dangers of smoking.
Jeb Bush’s Role in Florida’s War on Black Voters (Russ)
The huge number of ex-felon African Americans in Florida kept from voting even after they do their time frequently makes the difference in who wins and who loses.
LIfe and Death of an Amazon Warehouse Temp (Russ)
Sad tale of the demise of a young father…. Temps in a caste system work for a subcontractor company named (literally) “Integrity.”
Anonymous to Reveal Identities of 1,000 Ku Klux Klan Members on 1st Anniversary of Ferguson Protests (Trevin)
Anonymous’ message to the KKK: “We are not attacking you because of what you believe in as we fight for freedom of speech, we are attacking you because of what you do to our brothers and sisters.”
Bernie Sanders Vows To Fight Back Against Islamophobia In The 2016 Race (Trevin)
While the GOP was debating who could hate the hardest, Bernie Sanders held a town hall at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, where he committed leading the effort to end “all forms of racism in this country.”
Jewish and Palestinian Doctors Working Together (Russ)
Half the staff in ICU of Jerusalem’s Hadassah Hospital are Arabs
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